Mutants in the Haunted Hotel
Part 5
A/N: Yes, we know there was no closing note last time. We can't be brilliantly witty 24/7 you know!
Disclaimer: Don't feel like being witty. Not ours.
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The dining room was empty when they arrived. There were sandwich fixings on the table and a note from Des. His 'business' was keeping him away for a time, but they should go ahead with lunch without him. No one really minded his absence. He was kind of annoying.
"Ooh, salami," Kitty happily began her sandwich. Everyone else quickly surveyed the trays and were pleased to find their favorite fillers available. Rogue reached for the roast beef, Remy the chicken, and Kurt happily slathered braunschweiger on his bread.
"You, like, actually eat that stuff?" Kitty wrinkled her nose at Kurt's sandwich, taking a bite of her own.
"Just because you don't like it doesn't mean no one does," Kurt responded defensively.
"I was only kidding," she smiled and he blushed. They were obviously in their own little world. Rogue sighed and turned to Remy.
"Why do I always get stuck talking to you?"
"Fate?" Remy suggested. She rolled her eyes at him. Then it happened, same as before.
First the rumbling. Then paintings began to fall, and dishes clattered off the table. Kitty and Kurt looked around in fear. Then it all seemed to stop and whispering began. And then he was there.
"Please…" he whispered, staring piteously at them, "please help…" Then he doubled over in pain and was gone. They all stood in silence.
"Say," Kitty said weakly, looking to each of her friends, "you guys think there might be a ghost in here?"
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"So, did you guys find anything?" Kurt inquired, looking around at each of his friends. They looked up from their library books.
"Non," Remy sighed sadly.
"Nothing at all," Rogue growled frustrated. They had been searching through the library for an hour and still had found nothing that would give them a clue about the ghost.
"No, but I found a spider!" Kitty screeched, leaning back in her chair. "Get it away from me! Gross!" Kurt jumped up and picked up the spider. He gently set it down on a windowsill ."Thanks," Kitty giggled. "My hero!" Kurt blushing madly, turned to face the wall. Remy smiled and patted Kurt on the back when he walked by. When Remy looked back Rogue was glancing suspiciously at him.
"What was that all about?" she asked.
"What was what, mademoiselle?" Remy replied innocently. She glared at him, then looked away, when he smiled playfully at her.
"Well we had better keep looking," Kurt sighed getting up to find a new book. He walked through the rows of shelves, searching for anything that might help. As he scanned the bookshelves, something caught his eye, a place in the shelves where a book should have been, but wasn't. He reached up and stuck his hand in the hole, not really expecting to find anything, when his hand brushed up against something. Eyes wide with surprise, Kurt reached farther and pulled the book out. "Hey everybody!" Kurt yelled, sitting down at a table. "Come look at this! It was pushed back in the shelves, like it was hidden or something." Kitty, Remy, and Rogue rushed over to where Kurt sat.
Rogue scrutinized the book. It was somewhat large and had a leather cover. It was covered with dust, but not particularly old-looking. She reached forward and brushed dust off the cover. The title read 'Hauntings of the Victorian Era: A Guide to Victorian Manors and the Ghosts Who Haunt Them'. Kurt opened the book excitedly and flipped through the pages, looking for something that would tie the Rusted Gardens Hotel to one of these manors.
"There!" He cried triumphantly, spreading the pages so everyone could see. There was a picture of the hotel and underneath it was a small photo of the man who had been appearing to them.
"That's him!" Kitty hissed. Rogue leaned in to read the text."
"'One of the most haunted Victorian-style manors in California, this home is most recently owned and occupied by semi-famous scientist, Mr. Issac Travers. Guests at the house reported incidents in which the walls shook and objects were broken by unseen forces. Some even claimed to see a ghostly figure walking the halls…" Remy picked up the book and continued reading.
"However, Mr. Travers refuses access to reporters and denies these strange occurrences were caused by anything other than 'perfectly natural phenomenon'. Some time after Mr. Travers acquired the house, the 'haunting' completely ceased. Perhaps there never was a ghost…or perhaps the ghost is merely lying in wait…waiting for the most opportune moment to rise again and resume his activities.'"
"It seems Mr. Travers has joined whoever was haunting his house," Kurt was the first to speak. They all seemed shaken by their discovery.
"So…this place was, like, ghost-town before this guy got ghosted." Kitty shuddered slightly and rubbed her arms. This whole thing was a little too creepy for her.
"We should probably go get ready for dinner," Rogue said, looking at her watch. Everyone nodded somewhat numbly. Remy noticed Kitty's obvious discomfort.
"You two go. Remy and Rogue will put away the books." Kitty and Kurt both smiled thankfully and left. Rogue glared at him but started stacking books back on the shelves anyway. With both of them working it only took a minute or two to shove the books back. The two of them went into the hall and Kitty and Kurt, who were nearly to the end, paused to wait for them.
Suddenly the now familiar rumbling started up. All four looked around madly so they could avoid anything falling. And sure enough, everything started crashing to the floor, and the hall shook like never before. Rogue covered her head and Kitty grabbed Kurt's sleeve. Then they learned that the structure was stronger at the end of the hall and by the library than in between the two. Because that was where the ceiling fell in.
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Oh no! Horror of horrors! What will happen? WHAT WILL HAPPEN??? Better review if you want to find out .